New call for sclr proposals, January 2024

New call for sclr proposals, January 2024

HEKS/EPER Romania Foundation is excited to announce a new round of financing for Ukrainian groups located in the County of Cluj who want to help their communities thrive in the current context.  

With funding from Act Alliance, between March and May 2024, we will run a sclr (Support for survivor and community-led response) program in an effort to support our livelihoods program aimed at assisting Ukrainians living in Cluj in securing employment in 2024. As such, the two programs are complementary under the umbrella of a new project named “Increasing resilience for Ukrainian Refugees in Cluj”. The sclr approach involves transferring decision-making from organizations to the affected communities. Specifically, unlike other forms of humanitarian support, through sclr, you, as a crisis survivor, could have your problem-solving ideas funded and would be responsible for all project stages: problem identification, project writing, money management, and implementation. 

HEKS/ EPER has already supported 47 initiatives around the country and plans to continue this until the final of the project. Some of the already funded initiatives covered handcrafts, sports, legal advice, tech training, afterschool, therapy support for moms and others.  

If you have skills or ideas that you want to share with others that you think would help the larger community, we invite you to consider sending us your application!  

Key information  

Title of the program: sclr initiatives for the Ukrainian communities Cluj  

Programming period: March – May 2024.  

The maximum amount of grant allocation: 15.000 RON*.  

*The funds will be received no earlier than the 1^st of March 

Who can apply?  

We aim to support the initiatives of crisis-affected Ukrainians in Cluj County, who are already trying to help their communities build resilience in the current situation.  

Eligible: We will receive applications from groups or individuals who are involved or part of the Ukrainian communities living in Cluj County for at least three months.  

Not eligible: We cannot fund proposals from self-help groups that use resources only to support themselves and their own recovery, nor do we fund private entities (of any kind) for their exclusive projects. The whole aim of sclr is to support a wider community.  

The core approach promotes the following eligibility criteria:  

• Active in taking initiatives as a response to the crisis (not waiting for outsiders or aid agencies).  
• Already helping the Ukrainian community and contributing to broader communal well-being.  
• Locally trusted and known for their integrity.  
• Concerned for the most vulnerable as well as marginalized groups.  

Type of initiatives we are financing:  

We will finance projects that contribute to community well-being and strengthen social cohesion or support the most vulnerable who cannot help themselves. It all depends on the opportunities local groups identified as most relevant to strengthen their community’s survival, recovery and future resilience.  

Projects can involve the following sectors: health, psychosocial support, education, basic survival, etc.  

Eligible costs  

We finance any costs related to the sectors above. However, we do not fund salaries. For further information on eligible expenses, please contact us.  

Selection criteria  

We will score project initiatives one by one based on their compatibility with the following criteria:  

• the initiative includes Romanian classes and/or involves children’s care in their planning 
• the person applying has lived in Romania for the past three months (has a temporary protection living permit);  
• they are active in helping the local Ukrainian community (and the larger community as a whole);  
• they are known for their integrity (based on referrals);  
• the individual/group has implementation capacity (ability to deliver their objectives based on the strengths of their team);  
• the individual/group provides a realistic, efficient and transparent budget and project proposal;  
• the initiative promotes the inclusion of the local Romanian community in the proposed activities (either as part of the working team or as beneficiaries);  

Webinar  

If you’re interested in applying and have questions, we are happy to welcome you to one of our webinars organized online on the 22^nd of January, 6:00 pm.  

The webinar will be in English and will be organized in the form of a Q&A session.  You can join using this link: https://meet.google.com/tdc-ktyb-oya

Next steps  

If you would like to apply for a microgrant, you can download the application form from the link below:  

sclr app_EN.docx 

Deadlines  

We receive applications sent until Sunday, 28^th of January*, 11:59 pm, at the following email address: stefan.tapastau@heks-eper.org.  

*If you require support with your application or would like to receive feedback, kindly submit a draft by Wednesday, the 24^th of January. We are here to provide assistance and guidance in a professional manner.  

The selection will be made based on the aforementioned criteria by a dedicated committee, and the results will be shared publicly on the 16^th of February.  

Selected initiatives should be implemented no later than the 31^st of May.  

Contact us! 

Our community facilitator, Ștefan Tăpăstău (EN), is happy to help and answer any additional questions by email, from Monday to Friday, between 9 am – 4 pm: stefan.tapastau@heks-eper.org. Ștefan can also be reached by phone at +40 772 100 281 (EN).